Here lately some weird things have been happening to the older Kindle models listed over at Amazon.com.

In recent weeks the Kindle Keyboard, previously known as the Kindle 3, has seemingly been discontinued. Even though the Kindle Keyboard was several generations old, Amazon continued to sell it up until recently because of its unique accessibility options with the keyboard, text-to-speech, and voice guide features. But now the only Kindle Keyboards available from Amazon are used.

The Kindle 3 is the last of its kind. A lot of people are going to be disappointed to hear that Amazon is pulling the plug on the last of their keyboard-equipped Kindles. To see it being replaced by touchscreens and frontlights and LCD tablets isn’t surprising, but it does mark the end of an era. The Kindle 3 is most likely the last Kindle to resemble the original design with the attached keyboard below the screen.

But you never know. The Kindle 3 could come back from the dead one day, like the Kindle DX did yesterday.

For reasons unknown Amazon has quietly started selling the 9.7″ Kindle DX again, at least temporarily. It has suddenly reappeared atop the Kindle banner at Amazon alongside the Kindle Paperwhite and basic Kindle, showing a price of $299. That’s the same price it sold for back in October 2012 during its final run. Before then it sold for $379.

It’s odd that Amazon would bring it back after all these months. They must have found a stockpile of them laying around somewhere.

The same sort of thing happened to the Kindle Touch recently. Amazon suddenly started selling it new again for awhile but it didn’t last long. So if you really want a Kindle DX, despite its numerous shortcomings, now would be the time to get one. Like the Kindle 3, it is the last of a dying breed. It’s unlikely Amazon will release another large-screen E Ink ereader again, especially now that they’ve invested in color electrowetting display technology.

Just a thought, but considering what Sony is doing with a 13.3 inch screen and the recent Kobo Aura HD I’m wondering if larger higher resolution e-ink screens are going to be “the next big thing” and find a mainstream market?

I wonder if they found a couple of DX cases behind a stack of empty cardboard boxes in a warehouse or something? I don’t think they would re-manufacture a dead device without any conceivable (or practical) reason. Perhaps there was a surge of requests from people who regretted not buying the DX when it was still available. Amazon might be motivated to move some back inventory if a library or school placed a large order.

This is good news for those of us who like larger-screened eReaders; however, I cannot recommend the Kindle DX at $299 when you could get the most advanced 9.7″ eReader on the market, the Onyx Boox M92, for $379 on eBay. The M92 Black gets regular firmware updates and patches posted right to Mobileread by Booxtor, an Onyx dev and retailer. The display resolution is getting a little dated, but still the text looks much sharper and the background is lighter on the M92 than it was on my DX.

I am slightly curious/excited about Sony’s new Digital Paper 13.3″ E Ink device. If the price is right (and if the display is HD), I may be tempted to order one. Having full-sized display of PDFs with a smart pen would be amazing.